145 Reflexive pronouns c •••心のどこかでいつも思っていた。“私はあなたたちとは違う。
いつか女優になるんだ”って。
. . . kokoro no doko ka de itsu mo omotte ita.
‘Watashi wa anata-tachi to wa chigau. Itsu ka joyo ni naru n da’ tte.
. . . always felt somewhere in my heart: ‘I’m different from you people [= teachers and fellow pupils]. One day I’ll be an actress’.
d 人々は自分たちの生活を見つめ始めた。
Hitobito wa jibun-tachi no seikatsu o mitsume-hajimeta.
People have begun to reconsider their lives.
146 5 Demonstrative/
interrogative words and pronouns
5.5.1 jibun 5.5.1.1 Reflexive use
Here, jibun refers back to a noun (in [ ]) previously mentioned in the same sentence. Note that in some instances (examples c–d) no plural suffix is used even though the noun is plural (or generic).
a 人々は自分たちの生活を見つめ始めた。
[Hitobito] wa jibun-tachi no seikatsu o mitsume-hajimeta.
The people have begun to look hard at their daily lives.
b 英国人にとって家は自分の城。
[Eikoku-jin] ni totte ie wa jibun no shiro.
For the Englishman, his home is his castle.
c 親が子供にやさしすぎるのは、自分に自信がないからである。
[Oya] ga kodomo ni yasashi-sugiru no wa, jibun ni jishin ga nai kara de aru.
The reason why parents are overly kind to their children is because they have no confidence in themselves.
d みなさんよ〱カラオケバーとかゴルフに行〱けれども、そのほと んどは自分の会社関係の人と行〱でしょう。
[Minasan] yoku karaoke-bk to ka gorufu ni iku keredomo, sono hotondo wa jibun no kaisha kankei no hito to iku deshn. People often do things like going to karaoke bars or playing golf, but
almost always they go with people associated with their company, right?
5.5.1.2 Used like a personal pronoun
5.5.1.2.1 Like an indefinite personal pronoun
In this use, jibun is used in the sense of ‘one’, ‘their’, etc.
a まず自分の必要カロリーを知ること。
Mazu jibun no hitsuyn karorm o shiru koto.
First, one needs to find out one’s calorie requirements.
b 面白い本に、子供が自分から出会うことが大切。
Omoshiroi hon ni, kodomo ga jibun kara deau koto ga taisetsu.
It’s important that the children find interesting books on their own initiative.
147 Reflexive pronouns 5.5.1.2.2 Like a first-person pronoun (see 5.3.1.1.2)
This can be either singular or plural.
a 会社は自分をどう評価するのか。
Kaisha wa jibun o dn hynka suru no ka.
How will the company evaluate me?
b 自分が同性愛者とわかっても構わない。
Jibun ga dnseiai-sha to wakatte mo kamawanai.
I don’t mind if people realize that I’m gay.
c 日本初の契約制スチュワーデス。「自分たちはパイオニア。」 Nihon-hatsu no keiyaku-sei suchuwkdesu. ‘Jibun-tachi wa
paionia.’
Japan’s first stewardesses on contract. ‘We are pioneers.’
d なぜ、清輝君の心の叫びがわかってあげられなかったのか。
自分が情けない。自分が〱やしい。
Naze, Kiyoteru-kun no kokoro no sakebi ga wakatte
agerarenakatta no ka. Jibun ga nasakenai. Jibun ga kuyashii.
[suicide caused by bullying:] Why was I unable to recognize Kiyoteru’s silent cries? I’m ashamed of myself. I’m disappointed with myself.
5.5.2 jishin
5.5.2.1 Reflexive pronoun
jishin can be used as a reflexive pron. ‘him/herself’, ‘themselves’, etc. in the same way as jibun, but this is limited to the written language.
a 女優の宮沢りえさんがテレビのコマーシャルで、自身の波乱に富 んだ人生をもじって使った言葉。
Joyo no Miyazawa Rie-san ga terebi no komksharu de, jishin no haran ni tonda jinsei o mojitte tsukatta kotoba.
It’s an expression that the actress Miyazawa Rie used in a TV advert as a joke about her own eventful life.
b 自身を評して「何でもしてみたがる好奇心の固まりのような 性格」とか。
Jishin o hynshite ‘Nan demo shite mi-tagaru knkishin no katamari no yn na seikaku’ to ka.
Assessing himself, he says things like, ‘My nature is curiosity personified, wanting to try everything’.
148 5 Demonstrative/
interrogative words and pronouns
5.5.2.2 Attached to a personal pronoun
The combination of personal pronoun + jishin, depending on the pro- noun used, means ‘I myself’, ‘he himself’, ‘they themselves’, etc. Note that after a plural suffix such as -ra, jishin is attached after the suffix (ex- ample c).
a 私自身は監督になろうとは思わない。
Watashi jishin wa kantoku ni narn to wa omowanai.
I myself have no intentions of becoming a coach.
b 彼自身、天オと狂気のはざまに生きたような人なので ある。
Kare jishin, tensai to kynki no hazama ni ikita yn na hito na no de aru.
He himself [Wittgenstein] is a person who was born on the borderline between genius and madness.
c 若手 • 中堅が真の大指揮者に育つか否かは、彼ら自身の 能力の問題ばかりではない。
Wakate, choken ga shin no dai-shikisha ni sodatsu ka ina ka wa, kare-ra jishin no nnryoku no mondai bakari de wa nai.
Whether young and established conductors will develop into really great ones isn’t just a matter of their own ability.
5.5.2.3 Attached to jibun
jishin attached to jibun is used like a personal pronoun, with the combina- tion meaning ‘I myself’, ‘he himself’, etc.
a 自分自身はパソコンが苦手だが、「子供にいろいろな 刺激を与えてやろうと思って」と購入することにし たという。
Jibun jishin wa pasokon ga nigate da ga, ‘kodomo ni iroiro na shigeki o ataete yarn to omotte’ to knnyo suru koto ni shita to iu.
He himself is no good with personal computers, but says he decided to buy one thinking he would like to provide his children with a variety of stimuli.
149 Reflexive pronouns b 二十八日の報道各社とのインタビューでは半年間を振り返って、
首相は「自分自身でも良〱やってきたという気持ちがある」と 自画自賛。
Nijohachi-nichi no hndn kakusha to no intabyo de wa hantoshi-kan o furikaette, shushn wa ‘jibun jishin de mo yoku yatte kita to iu kimochi ga aru’ to jiga jisan.
Looking back on the [first] six months in the interview with the assembled media companies, the PM sang his own praises, saying, ‘I myself feel that I’ve done pretty well’.
5.5.2.4 Attached to noun
The noun can be a personal noun (examples a and b), or noun referring to an entity or group made up of persons, such as universities (example c), or a country (example d).
a 子供を産む、産まないを含め、女性の体に関する判断は女性自身 が行うこと。
Kodomo o umu, umanai o fukume, josei no karada ni kansuru handan wa josei jishin ga okonau koto.
Decisions regarding their own bodies, including whether to have a baby or not, should be made by women themselves.
b 容疑者自身も事件で負傷しており、収容先の病院で逮捕された。
Yngisha jishin mo jiken de fushn shite ori, shoynsaki no bynin de taiho sareta.
The suspect himself was injured, too, and arrested in the hospital where he was interned.
c 真の改革に向けて何よりも必要なのは、大学評価を積極的に受け、
自らを改革していこうという大学自身の姿勢といえそうだ。
Shin no kaikaku ni mukete nani yori mo hitsuyn na no wa, daigaku hynka o sekkyoku-teki ni uke, mizukara o kaikaku shite ikn to iu daigaku jishin no shisei to iesn da.
For real reform the most necessary thing is that the universities themselves take the attitude of having [outside] assessment and reforming themselves.
d まず日本自身が「居心地の良さ」と決別しな〱てはならない。
Mazu Nihon jishin ga ‘igokochi no yosa’ to ketsubetsu shinakute wa naranai.
First of all, Japan herself must say goodbye to ‘feeling comfortable’.
150 5 Demonstrative/
interrogative words and pronouns
5.6 Pronominals 5.6.1 no
no can be a pronoun that substitutes for a lexical noun, referring to a thing or a person (or animal) in the sense of ‘the one(s)’. In this use, no is modified like any other noun by a noun-modifying clause, in the same forms that are used to modify nouns. no itself attaches the same case or adverbials particles that the lexical noun would.
a 大きいのは500円、小さいのは300円です。
Tkii no wa gohyaku-en, chiisai no wa sanbyaku-en desu.
The big ones are ¥500, the small ones ¥300.
b きのう買ったのを見せて下さい。
Kinn katta no o misete kudasai.
Show me the one you bought yesterday.
c これを書いたのは林さんだ。
Kore o kaita no wa Hayashi-san da.
The one who wrote this is Hayashi-san.
Note – where no replaces the modified N in the sequence N no N, no is used only once:
d ✐山田さんのかさ Yamada-san no kasa Yamada-san’s umbrella
e ✐このかさは山田さんのです。
Kono kasa wa Yamada-san no desu.
This umbrella is Yamada-san’s.
5.6.2 mono/mon
In this use, mon(o) is similar to no.
a い〱つかの選択肢の中から一番条件に合ったものを自然に選んだ だけ。
Ikutsu ka no sentakushi no naka kara ichiban jnken ni atta mono o shizen ni eranda dake.
From several choices, I just naturally selected the one that suited the conditions best.
• D
D
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